Pakistan delegation leaves for FATF Paris session: sources

ISLAMABAD: A delegation of Pakistan led by Minister for Economic Affairs, Hammad Azhar, has left for Parist to attend plenary session of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), citing sources ARY News reported on Saturday.

A five-day plenary session of the FATF will take place in Paris from February 16 (tomorrow).

The FATF upcoming session will decide on Pakistan’s exit from its grey list, sources said.

Pakistan has already made substantial progress over the recommendations of the task force.

Previous FATF session in Beijing had affirmed tangible progress made by Pakistan over its recommendations.

The forum was founded in 1989 to develop policies to combat money laundering and terrorism financing.

In the last session of the FATF, India had opposed removal of Pakistan from the grey list, while the United States and the European Union had backed Islamabad’s efforts in line with the FATF guidelines.

China, Turkey and the Malaysia are already supporting Pakistan, while it is expected that Pakistan can get more support from the member countries due to its positive diplomacy.

Last month, the officials of Pakistan and Financial Action Task Force had continued dialogues in Beijing where the implementation report of Islamabad was reviewed regarding the four-month progress on the FATF action plan.

Sources said Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Hammad Azhar in previous session had highlighted effective measures taken by the government for anti-money laundering and counter terror financing.